OpenAI comes for Hollywood with Critterz, an AI-powered animated film (www.theverge.com)

OpenAI is setting its sights on Hollywood with *Critterz*, an AI-generated animated feature film slated for a 2026 worldwide release and a premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Leveraging its advanced AI toolkit—including the recently launched GPT-5—OpenAI aims to demonstrate that generative AI can produce high-quality, commercially viable animation at a fraction of traditional costs and timeline. With a budget under $30 million and a production schedule compressed into just nine months, *Critterz* challenges the conventional model that often requires years and hundreds of millions of dollars. This move is significant for the AI/ML community as it marks a bold, real-world application of generative AI beyond text and image generation, pushing into large-scale media production. By partnering with industry players Native Foreign and Vertigo Films, OpenAI hopes not only to showcase the practical capabilities of their models but also to break down resistance within Hollywood regarding AI’s role in creative industries. The project spotlights ongoing debates around intellectual property, creative agency, and labor disruption, making *Critterz* a potential catalyst for broader AI adoption in entertainment. If successful, it could redefine animation production, demonstrating how AI-driven workflows can accelerate creativity while slashing costs.